The transformation of peace

OP Richmond

Abstract

This study examines the implicit conceptualisation and apparent transformation of the discourse of peace both as an ideal, unachievable or achievable form, or as a subjective concept. It does so from its early beginnings in the context of the literature on political theory and philosophy, to the literatures on conflict, war and power, and its association with democratisation, development, free-market reform, human rights, and civil society. This is compared and contrasted with the development of the methods of making peace, public discourses on peace, and international and civil society organisations focusing on disarmament and later on humanitarian issues. This culminates in the policy discourses associated with the institutionalisation of such practices and discourses in the context of the role of the UN and peacebuilding. In particular this study focuses on the intellectual and policy evolution that has led to the development of a contemporary discourse of a ‘liberal peace’, implicit in most contemporary peacemaking activities and humanitarian intervention, and which is increasingly the precursor of intervention for governance purposes based upon a peacebuilding consensus. This study concludes by examining the different graduations of the liberal peace. It points to the danger of assuming that the concept of peace always signifies an ideal form, and therefore of condoning what may well be a slide of the debates about peace into debates about war in which the liberal peace is seen to be virtuous, but in reality is highly interventionary and perhaps also virtual. Indeed, this book argues that it may well be that the liberal peace is becoming a form of war, and furthermore, that this is far from being a new phenomena.

How its relevant to scouting

This study is relevant for Scouting because it highlights how ideas of peace have evolved—from philosophical ideals to contemporary policy discourses—and how these are intertwined with democracy, development, human rights, and humanitarian intervention. As a movement with peace at its core, Scouting benefits from understanding the complexities and tensions in modern “liberal peace” approaches, which can sometimes become interventionist rather than purely aspirational. For Scouts, this analysis reinforces the need to approach peacebuilding not as an abstract ideal or imposed framework, but as a lived practice rooted in dialogue, civil society, and community engagement. By critically engaging with such discourses, Scouting can strengthen its educational mission of fostering young people as credible, grassroots peacebuilders who contribute to more just and sustainable forms of peace.